[VAgirl18]

I'm not sure how I missed this thread.

I've posted before in previous threads and I'll post my opinions/advice again as an alum of the IU greek system.

To me, its not the quota or system that is failing, its the PNMs going through recruitment that are doing it to themselves.

Many have commented on adding a house or getting rid of the bed quota. I don't think that's the right solution at all. The biggest issues are with PNMs not presenting themselves in the best light or giving up because they only got invited back to one or two houses each round. If people only took the advice of some of the women on this board and would read recruitment stories about how opinions of houses change each party, then maybe some would stick around long enough to explore the houses that they did get invited back to.

Many PNMs take the process seriously and are respectful to all houses, but some aren't and are just flat out rude. In fact, having been on multiple sides of recruitment, the attitudes of women have just gotten increasingly worse over the years. Rumors fly or they think they have bids easily to houses, only to get discouraged. Having friends or being a legacy does NOT guarantee you a bid. Being wealthy or skinny doesn't mean you'll get into a house. PERSONALITY is what does it.

Some houses are in high demand and have no issues with quota. Others are struggling now or barely miss quota but have no problems making it up with snap bids or COR. Eliminating the bed quota would just increase numbers to houses already bursting at the seams. The unique aspect of the IU system is that houses are just the right size for a big campus, not so large where you barely know anyone in your pledge class. The idea is to have all houses full -- eliminating the quota would surely squash all chances of that happening. Also, grade drops are another high number that few girls take into account. Here's where word of mouth gets people trying to do the popular thing -- a friend may not continue with recruitment saying the process is dumb or they don't want to go Greek when they actually didn't make grades. The person's excuse gets another girl thinking and they end up dropping. It actually happens a lot more than people think.

Almost all women have the potential to get placed, its just that many choose not to continue with recruitment or suicide during pref. The approx 150 without bids will suicide a house instead of maybe receiving a bid from a house they didn't love. Everyone should at least give one house a try. Who knows, it may be completely different when you're actually going through your new membership period and see the women in a different light than you did during rush. It happened to me and many others.

The greek system is a huge deal at IU and I agree that many are bitter about not getting bids, but mostly for the wrong reasons.

Hope this makes sense. Its ridiculously late, but I couldn't go to bed without clearing up some of the "advice" that some so-called experts are giving. Yes, times have changed in the few years that I've left IU, but the basics are still the same and I've still been around rush lately.